Fernando Luis-Ferreira

IoT based situational awareness framework for real-time project management

Factories of the Future roadmap identifies that the major challenges manufacturing companies face today are the growing complexity of their processes, therefore affecting the overall process of decision making. Thus, it is a very important research area to integrate the evolving technologies in the domain of Internet of Things (IoT) into the applications used for project management. At the same time, to capture events on the shop-floor and determine the meaning of information about those perceived events would be an important aspect for making decisions in heterogeneous, highly dynamic environments. This research paper aims to provide a framework for efficient project management by reducing the time for decision-making based on IoT technologies. The goal is pursued by dynamically establishing situational awareness on the top of existing manufacturing processes. The proposed framework is validated in real industrial scenario by implementing a platform for efficient project management within the domain of construction industry.

On the formal definition of the systems’ interoperability capability: an anthropomorphic approach

The extended view of enterprise information systems in the Internet of Things (IoT) introduces additional complexity to the interoperability problems. In response to this, the problem of systems’ interoperability is revisited by taking into the account the different aspects of philosophy, psychology, linguistics and artificial intelligence, namely by analysing the potential analogies between the processes of human and system communication. Then, the capability to interoperate as a property of the system, is defined as a complex ability to seamlessly sense and perceive a stimulus from its environment (assumingly, a message from any other system), make an informed decision about this perception and consequently, articulate a meaningful and useful action or response, based on this decision. Although this capability is defined on the basis of the existing interoperability theories, the proposed approach to its definition excludes the assumption on the awareness of co-existence of two interoperating systems. Thus, it establishes the links between the research of interoperability of systems and intelligent software agents, as one of the systems’ digital identities.

Modelling of Things on the Internet for the Search by the Human Brain

The Internet has become the main source of information for business and research activities. Despite the value of libraries supported by computational cataloging, there are far more opportunities to retrieve information on the Internet than in paper books. However, when we seek the Internet we get essentially chunks of text with titles and descriptors resulting from search engine’s activity. Albeit some information may contain sensorial or emotional contents, the search results come essentially from algorithmic execution over keywords by relevance. Our brain retrieves information about things in real world by capturing sensorial information and storing it with emotional experience. We can question why things in Internet are not represented in a similar way to human brain. The present research aims to support a new type of search by sensations and emotions in a path to model Things in Internet towards a human-like representation of objects and events, based on lessons learned from the human brain.

Multi-sensorial support for disabled users a case study with AutoCAD

The availability of hardware devices, applications and external connectivity in our computers and smartphones opens a wide range of opportunities for developing intelligent systems. People with some kind of motor disability can take advantage of such systems with minimal cost, as there are diverse hardware components already available in standard consumer products. Research reported in this document presents multi-sensorial solutions based on equipment and features already existent, with minimal adaptation can help people with disabilities to find proficiency in using computational tools. The aim of the presented work is to use camera for eye-tracking and speech recognition along with mouse and keyboard. In this case study such approach is used with AutoCAD software that, typically, is not suitable to people with physical disabilities, especially if those affect the upper limbs or the speech. The proposed intelligent system aims at providing means for those persons to be able to draft, create and embrace a new and inclusive job opportunity.

Programming Over AutoCAD for the Proficiency of Disabled Users Using Webcam Based Eye-Tracker

Mechanical project is a task that requires knowledge about materials and technologies. The need for those skills is supported by mathematical knowledge associated with such technologies. Disabled people can have tremendous skills in terms of calculation and conception of mechanical devices but they may lack on proper access to handle tools that represent parts or mechanisms in terms of graphical design. The present research aims at deploying a setup that can help on such task by allowing drafting in AutoCAD using the eyes. The proposed approach makes use of a laptop camera to act as an eye-tracker, thus avoiding additional hardware costs. The authors envisage new opportunities from this work to future work, including the possibility of disabled people to build 3D real models from the generation of STL models to export to 3D printing devices.Copyright

Framework for Adaptive Knowledge Transmission Supported by HCI and Interoperability Concepts

Teachers and educators have the mission of transmitting the best of their knowledge using the most from available resources and following established programmatic guidelines. The continuous evolution of technology, proposing new tools and apparatus for knowledge representation and transmission, has offered innumerous options for the mission of teaching. However, more then providing a wide set of experimental setups, or multimedia contents, would be important to determine the best content for each student. Hypothetically, the best content would be defined as the most suited to promote a seamless transmission of knowledge, according to the student status and his readiness to receive those concepts. Human Computer Interfaces can promote a better interoperability between those who teach and those who learn and can better adapt contents and transmission methods to the needs and abilities of each student in class. The present paper proposes a framework for adapting knowledge transmission, either local or remotely, to the needs and circumstances of each teaching act.

Framework for Management of Internet Objects in Their Relation With Human Sensations and Emotions

Emotions are what make us human and emotions are what make us different. A person can make a list of such expressions about the role of human emotions, as they play a central role in our lives, in our interactions with others and the surrounding environment. Emotions are in a broad sense the regulators of our interaction with the world as they play a central role in our perception of the world and in our knowledge construction.In another angle, sensations are our immediate detector of the surrounding environment as, since ever, we see, touch and smell what is around us, we ear friendly voices or run from predator’s sounds and taste food that keep us alive. Both emotions and sensations can be used to describe our living and our main interactions with the world.However, despite that important role of senses and emotions, there is a poor representation of sensorial information and lack of understanding of emotions from the side of computational systems. Subsequently it is noticeable the absence of support to acquire and fully represent human sensorial experience and lack of ability to represent, and appropriately react, from those systems to emotional activity. The proposed work consists in developing a framework that acquires knowledge about human emotions from self-reporting or the interaction with Internet objects and media. In particular, it intends to facilitate their emotions description at the Internet from proposed samples of sensorial information allowing a later management of that knowledge for the most diverse objectives, as an example, for searching objects or media through similarities of emotional and sensorial patterns.Copyright

A behavioral framework for capturing emotional information in an internet of things environment

Life in modern societies implies a close relationship with many types of devices. The diversity of such devices has impact in diverse areas of our life as some provide support for management tasks, others just provide information, and most of them follow us anywhere and anytime. The more widespread example is mobile phones, but others also follow us, like our music devices or even our car with many electronic systems. In a recent past a phone was something to talk with others and a car was just a vehicle, with an engine, to allow displacement of people and goods. A phone would support voice conversation and a car had the equipment needed to take us to some destination. But these days all those devices and vehicles have computer equipment and some include complex functions and sensory abilities. We cannot question how useful those devices are for every days activities but it is questionable how those devices respect our nature and address our needs of perceptive and emotive human beings. How far can those...

Sensorial Experience Extensions in Learning Environments

Emerging technologies are providing a wide range of benefits for people in their different activities. That fact ranges from daily life activities, to business, teaching or simply for recreation. In what concerns to people with special needs there is a wide range of devices and applications that can be of use in addressing those needs and the will to progress in life. Observing in perspective, the support provided by technology can be seen as augmenting our sensorial experience by providing additional information as in the case of virtual reality and augmented reality. The devices provide additional information for what people sense, adding information and enlarging the sensorial experience while mounting additional information. This paper describes a strategy to extend, thru common use technology, the awareness of people with limited sensorial experience, aligning with other emergent technologies widely applicable to different situations while keeping a focus on teaching environments. That includes sensory devices like the Leap Motion device and 3D printed materials, which combined provide new opportunities for blind people to sense and retrieve new information

IoT and Self-Driving Cars a Revolution Beyond the Automobile Industry

Transportation is a sector of activity in permanent change. From airplanes to cars, trains and boats all forms of transportation aim at meeting personal or business needs of displacement of persons and goods. Those needs include safety, reliability, on time with the best effectiveness, and finally, providing the best price. This paper aims at studying car transportation’s consequences regarding last developments that culminate in the self-driving cars. This study analyses the impact of such changes at social and industrial level, considering also the coexistence of traditional cars and self-driving cars in diverse aspects. The authors aim to establish a proficient debate on such important changes for the near future, to create awareness of the potential consequences of such societal and business revolution and generate some conclusions addressing these complex challenges for the years to come. This paper also issues some recommendations for the coexistence of self-driving, autonomous and traditional cars during the transitory period.Copyright